George Pell and the Derangement of the Australian Right

It is telling about the age we live in that as a guilty verdict is handed down upon Cardinal George Pell, a giant in conservative life in Australia, that so many conservative figures in Australia have leapt to his defence. Andrew Bolt, Miranda Devine and Lyle Shelton have all mobilised their power in the defence of a convicted child abuser.

Now Pell may indeed appeal this verdict, as is his right, but I think the derangement of the political right wing in Australia is shown in stark detail in this behaviour.

Yes the legal system is imperfect, but it's the best system we have in getting to the truth of what happened. And it has determined Pell is guilty of a heinous crime. But the spin doctors of the right such as Bolt, Devine and Shelton are furiously denying the truth. Pell is guilty. A jury of 12 of Pell's peers have found it to be so.

Likewise Andrew Bolt and Miranda Devine are both important cheerleaders in the denial of another fact. Climate change. For much the same reason. For Bolt and Devine, climate change, which is accepted to be a fact by the scientific community is also a guilty verdict.

For these deranged cheerleaders of conservatism, climate change represents a guilty verdict against them. They believe that to be told that we need to reform society is a statement of personal guilt.

They say we who believe the scientific consensus are just guilt tripping them. We are not. Andrew Bolt is not responsible for the one degree Celsius rise in average temperatures across the globe. But he could mobilise his very real power to change our society to help slow the rise in temperature.

But he will not. It takes emotional intelligence to put your emotions aside and objectively review evidence. This is the cause of the derangement of right of centre politics in this country. Whether it be a notable church leader abusing children or the scientific consensus, their denial of the truth is simply deranged. And it has deranged Australia.

Impeach the President?

What Happens Now?

 
    Donald J Trump has taken office as the forty fifth President of the United States. Many people are concerned for the future. Conversations often turn to impeachment of the President.
Is it possible that Trump will be bought down in his first term? Yes.
Is it probable that Trump will be brought down in his first term? Less So. Here are two scenarios and my completly arbitary percentage of likelyhood to happen.


1) Early succesful Impeachment.

 Trump could be impeached for a variety of reasons.

a) The Emoluments Clause

The American Constitution contains a clause often know as the emoluments clause. The aim of which is to stop corruption by forbidding Representatives, Senators and employees of the executive government from holding other offices or being rewarded by foreign Governments.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/trump-emoluments-clause_us_58794852e4b09281d0eaf212

Trump is clearly in violation of this clause so he has decided that it doesnt apply to the President. It's possible the Supreme Court would agree. But it's possible it would find against Trump too.

b) Racketeering

Trump University was anything but. It was a cynical, likely illegal enterprise to fleece poor people of their money. At least one legal professor believes it could be used to mount a case against President Trump.

http://q13fox.com/2016/11/10/university-of-utah-finds-legal-case-to-impeach-donald-trump/





Many of Trump's multitude of legal proceedings coule be used to initiate his impeachment.

In that case Congress would have to muster the political will to impeach the president.  For that to be the case Trump would have to be an extreme political liability to the Republican Congress.

That is possible, but unlikely that this get so bad they throw Trump under the bus and turn to Mike Pence.

However the incoming President with the lowest approval rating in the  modern era means that an unpopular President Trump is a high probability. But impeachment is a low probability before the mid-term 2018 elections.

10% possibility.

2)Impeachment after 2018.

Far more likely than the early impeachment, this scenario relys on an unpopular Trump Presidency sweeping the Democrats to a powerful position in Congress. That the impeachment would likely need a few Republicans would not be a major challenge given that more than a few Congressional Republicans would love to take a swipe at Trump if he were vulnerable.

This scenario is much more realistic I give it 30% possibility.

    "It's the end of the world as we know it
    and I feel fine"

On Friday the 20th January Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. On that day will madness commence.
Choosing Donald Trump as President of the United States of America is bizarre.
Trump has campaigned on an openly racist platform, he's has bragged about sexual harrasment, tax evasion and bankruptcy to name just a few. His connections to the Kremlin were deeply troubleing even before the words "golden shower" were introduced and his refusal to separate his business from the business of the Presidency are reason enough for his claim on the Presidency to be forfeit.

Where did it all go Wrong and who's to blame?

1) William Jefferson Clinton

To blame the husband of Trumps opponent might seem counter intuitive, but Bill Clinton was responsible for the repeal of the Glass-Steagal act.

The Glass-Steagal act of 1933 (devised during the great depression to prevent anything like it happening again) basically told banks they had to make a choice. Either they were an investment bank. Economic gamblers who could take risks to maximse profits, or they were a commercial bank whith whom the public could hold their savings. A bank could not be both.
Bill Clinton signed the repeal of the Glass-Steagal act, leading to the retail banks also becoming investment banks. There is debate about whether this caused the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-2008, but most economists believe repealing Glass-Steagal at least exacerbated the crisis.

2) George W Bush
When Al-Qaeda flew those aircraft into the World Trade Centre and
the Pentagon the world changed.

Future historians will look at September 10 2001 as the very zenith of American power and influence. They will mark September 11 2001 as the beginning of the end of the American hegemony.
The sad thing is that it didnt have to be this way.
The Bush administration was populated by ideologically motivated half wits. Men like Paul Wolfowitz and Donald Rumsfeld. 
I hold Bush responsible for two poor decisions.

The first regards the invasion of Afghanistan.Bin Laden's plan was to draw the USA into a protracted war in Afghanistan. It's not for no reason that the country is known as the "graveyard of Empires". Britain and the USSR both suffered humiliating defeats when they brought the great game to Afghanistan. This should have given the Neo-Conservatives pause for thought. Sadly it did not.
 The response to 9/11 was to demand Afghanistan turn over Bin Laden. All in all it was quite a reasonable request. The Taliban (in charge of Afghasnistan at the time) agreed. With one caveat. Bin Laden must be tried in an Islamic court. This was rejected out of hand, mostly because Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et.al were spoiling for a fight.
So a long, bruising, expensive war began in Afghanistan. A war which still continues.
I often wonder if the USA had set up a show trial under the auspices of the UN whether the USA would still be in the dominant position economically it was in 2001.

The second decision was the war in Iraq. The Bush administration chose to wage a second war in Iraq.
After so much blood and treasure was being spent in Afghanistan, the White House chose to start a second war. They claimed Saddam Hussein harboured "Weapons of Mass destruction".
It turns out he didnt. Also Iraq was broken as a nation and may never be put back together. Isis formed out of the ruins of the Sunni faction in Iraq. The war continues in Iraq and has spread to Syria. So I'd call that an unadulterated failure.

3) Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton was one of the founding fathers of the United States. One of his worst ideas is that a body of learned men should actually vote  for the President and not the nation. He regarded the Electoral College as a way to stop mob rule. However it's effect in the 21'st century has been to hinder the democratic process. In the five elections since 2000 only three have been given to the candidate with the highest popular vote. That's a 40% failure rate of the United States Democratic system.
Hamilton wrote that the electoral college was to weed out demagogues and those under the influence of foreign powers.
In truth no electoral college elector in the modern age could vote against their allocated candidate. So we get the situation we had both in 2000 and again in 2016 where the winner of the popular vote loses the electoral college. The electoral college is a failure. It ensured the very outcome it was intended to avoid.

A Perfect Storm
    History is always more complex than just what's on the page. there are many more issues, but combining these three issues brings us to January 20 2017.

 Clinton laid the foundation of a fundamentally unsound financial system which was unable to deal with the financial shocks of 2007-2008.

Bush bled away blood and treasure in attricional wars which proved both fruitless and useless. Indeed Iraq is far worse than it was on september 10 2001.

Hamilton laid down the undemocratic system which would enable the Demagogue and foreign agent he was afraid of. 

The Voter
    However purile and uneddifying Trump is, people voted for him by the millions. He may have lost the popular vote, but he won in the states that counted.  People are angry. Trump votors (and all Americans) were lied to about going to war, lied to about how safe their financial system was and worried their children were going to have a worse life than their parents.

The Tyranny
    Demagogues have always prospered when democracy fails the people.  Will Trump inaugurate a tyranny on Friday?
I don't know. But I do know I wouldnt want to be an American to find out.

9 Signs that a Trump Presidency is "Going Rogue"

9 Signs a Trump Presidency is Going Rogue

The election of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States has a great many people very concerned. Trump has lowered the bar in terms of behavior when running for office and has threatened the status quo in Washington at every turn.

Much of this is positive. The Washington status quo needed to be broken. But the manner in which Trump has promised to break the deadlock in Washington deserves to be scrutinised.

Also deserving of scrutiny is the way in which Trump has conducted himself during the campaign and the way he has promised to conduct himself as President.

Trump lashes out at anyone who criticises him. Famously imploring people to watch a non existent sex tape of a Ms USA contestent, having a twitter meltdown over the family of a Muslim soldier killed in the middle east and threatening to incarcerate Hillary Clinton.

I'm not saying that trump is a dictator. Or that he will definitely become one. What i am saying is that inside this man beats the heart of a dictator.

Here are 9 signs to watch for that the Trump Presidency is turning into something nasty.

9 - Rolling Truth

A classic ploy from the dictatorial propaganda handbook is to employ a kind of Rolling Truth.

This is most famously shown in the satirical novel 1984 by George Orwell. The great enemy of Oceania switches from East Asia to Eurasia, but the propaganda claims that "we have always been at war with Eurasia."

Trump has already used this technique during his campaign, but must stop this behavior immediately as President for the good of American democracy.

For example Trump was for the war in Iraq:

Then denies he ever saying that.

Trump has made numerous similar claims. Including blaming Hillary Clinton for birtherism and others. Watch for it. A President who disdains reality is a President who could do anything and just deny it ever happened.

8 – Political Militia

Everyone with dictatorial ambitions from Pompey the Great, Crassus and Mussolini needs a good street militia to enforce his will upon the population when the state organs won't get involved.

Trump has called for violence to be used against protesters at his rallies. However he has not gone so far as to aquire a militia. He did call for enforcers to monitor polling places in democratic party strongholds for this election to suppress the Democratic Party vote. That's the precursor to a milita. Watch for the formation of a society of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackshirts. That's a huge signal that Trump is going rogue.

7 – Persecution of Minorities

All good dictators need someone else to blame. Both foreign and domestic sources of blame are required. In a Trump dictatorship the foreign objects of blame are obvious; terrorists, China, Mexico, the World Trade Organisation.

But domestic threats also clear. Latinos, Muslims, Gays and Liberals will all be targeted in a Trump dictatorship. Be watchful for it. Remember:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me

6 – Controlling Both Executive and Party

Who controls which congressmen and women have access to that august body? Not the voters. Competitive districts in congress have been gerrymandered almost out of existence. That leaves the Republican Party. Right now congressmen and women fear their own party faithful more than the electorate. No-one wants to be primaried by a candidate to your right. It's the reason that congress has failed. Anyone who wants to be an absolute ruler mast master this dynamic to have congressional Republicans afraid of them and not the rank and file.

5 – Cronyism

One of the levers of control a government has is the doling out of contracts to that government's backers. Such things are a normal part of all governments, but if it happens in excess it becomes corruption. Such is the situation that Trump inherits.

Trump was elected to "drain the swamp" of Washington. He's given no indication of how he might do that.

This is a test I expect Trump to fail.

4 – Falling Out With VP

Trump famously offered the Vice Presidential position to John Kasich. Kasich turned it down and then leaked the negotiations he had with the Trump Campaign to the Press.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/07/20/trump_reportedly_wanted_kasich_as_vp_to_be_in_charge_of_domestic_and_foreign.html

What was reportedly offered was quite surprising. Donald Trump Junior reportedly offered Kasich overall control of domestic and foreign policy. A surprised Kasich was said to have asked "what will Trump do" and was told that he would be in charge of "making America great again". In other words Trump wanted to do what he always does. Put his name and logo on the building at leave some other poor schmuck to run the business.

Of course it's not impossible that a Trump Presidency sees fairly typical Republican governing behaviors. This would be the influence of Mike Pence.

Pence has hinted that the same deal was offered to him. He has said that his role model as Vice President is none other than Dick Cheney. The last Republican Vice President is famous for being the driving force behind the neo-conservative policies of the second Bush Administration.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/mike-pence-role-model-vice-president-dick-cheney/story?id=42170897

However I don't imagine that once Trump has a taste of power he's going to let Pence lead.

I expect the two to fall out in short order. And an angry Trump is a dangerous Trump.

3 – The Next President is also a Trump

In the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama-(nearly)Clinton years nepotism has shifted gears to a whole new level in the USA. This must end. With a Trudeau as PM of Canada this isnt just an American problem.

The American system is full of checks and balances to ensure dictatorships never arise. One of the most powerful ones is the term limit.

Watch for Trump to attempt to circumvent the term limit. His role model Vladimir Putin did just that when he sought to entrench his Presidency for life. And Trump has something Putin doesn't. A crown prince waiting in the wings to take over the crown from his elderly father.

2 – Prosecuting Political Opponents

This is the big move that dictators pull. Dissent is not allowed. Anyone not mouthing the party line is considered dangerous. This goes for the media and political rivals.

Trump has often threatened to "Lock Her Up" whn talking about Hillary Clinton. Even the FBI director James Comey cleared her of any criminal wrongdoing over the emails.

http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/new-letter-from-fbi-director-james-comey-could-change-the-election/news-story/d6c698cb00655bf769abea842b9b29af

If Hillary does go to jail the coup is on.

Likewise Trump has threatened the media when he doesn't like their portrayal of his candidacy.

The 1^st amendment is very clear here that the New York Times has the right to say what it likes. But ask yourself. Would the partisan (read conservative) Supreme Court really try to stop him?

1 – Trump TV

Before the election Trump has been working on a way to monetise his massive audience. He hired Stephen Bannon from Breitbart.com as his campaign coordinator and now his chief of staff. 

It seemed likely that had he lost using the expertise and connections to the Alt Right that Bannon has Trump was going to grow his influence and make truck;loads of money through a new TV network spewing Alt Right rubbish.

Bannon is a self identified white nationalist and anti-semite. Under his leadership Breitbart.com published this piece about William Kristol.

http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/05/15/bill-kristol-republican-spoiler-renegade-jew/

But what if this wasn't just a plan for a loss. Even if it was, once you've got all the pieces in place why not go ahead. A broadcaster owned by the President, running his party line would be a great asset to Trump. More than that, it's required for Despotism.

Fox News is too independent, Rupert Murdoch is too close to the establishment. Trump TV is the answer. If Trump TV comes to fruition during a Trump Presidency that's a huge red flag. He wants to be President for life.

Trump is a Threat

Trump is a Threat

Donald Trump is a massive danger to democracy. First in America. Secondly all around the world. Trump has threatened to deport six million people, all illegal immigrants and close off America to 1.2 Billion people.

He has also threatened to jail his political opponent. He has hit out at what he calls the lying media to a point that he has threatened to sue the New York Times.

The 1^st amendment of the US Constitution is in focus here. It says:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Trump un the other hand has said:

“One of the things I’m gonna do, and this is only gonna make it tougher for me, and I’ve never said this before, but one of the things I’m gonna do if I win… is I’m gonna open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money. We’re gonna open up those libel laws.

“With me, they’re not protected, because I’m not like other people…We’re gonna open up those libel laws, folks, and we’re gonna have people sue you like you never get sued before.”

The 1^st amendment garantees the nation's right to a free press. It even mentions the institution of the press by name. So Trump not only is hostile to the media, but hostile to the US Constitution itself.

Trump's supporters have begun to openly cry anti-sematic slogans at his rallies and to call out Lugenpresse at the journalists covering his rallies.

Lugenpresse is what the NAZI's used to decry first the german media and then foreign media, going so far as to outlaw listening to foreign broadcasts. It means lying press and has anti-semetic connotation from the third reich of Adolf Hitler.

Should we really be surprised that a man who considers Hitlers speeches as bedtime reading might emulate the National Socialist playbook.

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/donald-trumps-ex-wife-once-said-he-kept-a-book-of-hitlers-speeches-by-his-bed-2015-8?r=US&IR=T

Rounding up 11 Million People

Trump's second most famous policy is to deport all illegal immigrants. The Department of Homeland security believes that there is about 11 million illegal immigrants in the USA.

What sort of an infrstucture is required to rould up 11 million people?

Well for a start you ould need a massive investment in internal security. The FBI or possibly a whole new organisation would need a huge recruitment drive to fill the thousands of agesnts required to root out all illegals. Agents would be required to investigate workplace to workplace and house to house demanding documents from citizens. Citizens online interactions would be monitered to track down any interactions with known illegals. The government would demand access to your house, to your online space and to your life to round up all illegals. In short we're talking about a Gestapo style police State. And the defanged media would be powerless to oppose it.

Housing 11 Million People

It is going to take some time ot process all of the people rounded up before you could send them back to their nation of origin. That would require a series of camps all over the nation on an unprecedented scale. In truth it would dwarf even the Nazi camp program. Millions of people vulnerable people would be held in detention at a time.

What happens next?

What do you think happens when the most powerful nation in the world gathers together it's percieved enemies from within under a police state? Examples from the mid 20^th century come to mind and they are not encouraging.

Jailing Political Opponents

Jailing your political opponents is a time honoured tradition of dictators throught history and today. Today those who oppose Vladimir Putin are deprived of their freedom and if outside of Russian legal means their lives.

Kim Jon Un, Robert Mugabe, The Ayatollah Khamenei of Iran, of today through to Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein, of the twentieth century to historical dictators like Napoleon Boneparte and Oliver Cromwell all practiced jailing of enemies. Today Trump threatens Hillary with jail.

Trump is a Threat

If you care about democracy a vote for Trump is not possible. He is a dictator in the making. He has told us how he would govern. Like a dictator. This vote tomorrow might be your last. Vote wisely.

Election USA 2016

US Election 2016

People we've got to talk about this US Election. Because on Tuesday November 8 the most powerful democracy on Earth will elect the next "leader of the free world". 

The free world is in danger right now. Not from Communists, North Korea and Cuba couldn't bring down the free world if they tried. Not from Al-Qaeda – they couldn't organised a chook raffle anymore. Not from ISIS, they have some power on social media, but are losing the Syrian civil war to the Assad regime and the Iraqi civil war to the Iraqi government. No this time the threat to the "free world" comes from within.

Democracy in the Hard Times and the Good

Democracy was defined by Abraham Lincoln as "government of the people, by the people, for the people...". It's as good a working definition as I have heard, although Churchill's "the worst form of government except for all the others..." is also quite enlightening.

But what is the danger of which I speak? It's those pesky people. The ruled. The ones who make up the nation.

How can the people be the threat in a democracy ruled by the people? The answer is of course that the people are unhappy.

Why are people unhappy?

Such things are hard to quantify but the answer is usually economic. Economic hard times have always produced instability in Democracies.

Indeed The fledgling democracy of Russia's February revolution was cut down by the more permanent October revolution. Why? World War One. The people were suffering and dying in what they perceived as a "rich man's war."

The aftermath of WW1 in Italy gave rise to the conditions which brought Benito Mussolini to the fore.

The horrendous war debt imposed on Germany by the treaty of Versailles brought the German people of the inter war years to the point of economic collapse. They of course turned to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist Party who modeled himself on Mussolini.

In the UK Sir Oswald Mosley became the head of the British Union of Fascists during the inter war years. The BUF boasted 50,000 members and noone will be surprised to learn that the BUF was enthusiastically endorsed by that great publication. The Daily Mail.

In Australia Lt Colonel Eric Campbell formed the society for returned servicemen called the New Guard. The New Guard were the expression of an Australian form of fascism. They were vehemently anti communist and while achieving little electoral success they did manage to bring about the deposing of the socialist Premier of New South Wales Jack Lang.

But the Economy is Good Isn't It?

Today in the USA all the economic indicators are pointing upwards.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/10/28/u-s-economy-surges-to-strongest-growth-in-two-years/

GDP is growing at 2.9% right now which is quite strong for a developed economy in 2016. But dig a little deeper and you will find some startling facts.

In 2014 the Pew Research Center showed that real wages in the USA had not risen noticably since 1964.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/10/09/for-most-workers-real-wages-have-barely-budged-for-decades/

If that is the case purchasing power has flat-lined, however innovation has driven productivity far higher. So who is seeing the results of that productivity?

Putting the GINI Back in the Bottle

Inequality of wealth is measured by something called the GINI coefficient. The OECD has put much work into understanding wealth inequality throughout it;s member states and has published findings here. http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/49499779.pdf

Here is the list of OECD countries by GINI Coefficient. They are ranked from most equal to least equal.

Gini coefficient, after taxes and transfers

Country	mid-70s	mid-80s	around 1990	mid-90s	around 2000	mid-2000s	Late 2000s
Slovenia						0.246	0.236
Denmark		0.221	0.226	0.215	0.226	0.232	0.248
Norway		0.222		0.243	0.261	0.276	0.250
Czech Republic			0.232	0.257	0.260	0.268	0.256
Slovak Republic						0.268	0.257
Belgium		0.274		0.287	0.289	0.271	0.259
Finland	0.235	0.209		0.218	0.247	0.254	0.259
Sweden	0.212	0.198	0.209	0.211	0.243	0.234	0.259
Austria		0.236		0.238	0.252	0.265	0.261
Hungary			0.273	0.294	0.293	0.291	0.272
Luxembourg		0.247		0.259	0.261	0.258	0.288
France		0.300	0.290	0.277	0.287	0.288	0.293
Ireland		0.331		0.324	0.304	0.314	0.293
Netherlands	0.263	0.272	0.292	0.297	0.292	0.284	0.294
Germany		0.251	0.256	0.266	0.264	0.285	0.295
Iceland						0.257	0.301
Switzerland					0.279	0.276	0.303
Poland					0.316	0.349	0.305
Greece	0.413	0.336		0.336	0.345	0.321	0.307
Estonia						0.349	0.315
South Korea						0.306	0.315
Spain		0.371	0.337	0.343	0.342	0.319	0.317
Canada	0.304	0.293	0.287	0.289	0.318	0.317	0.324
Japan		0.304		0.323	0.337	0.321	0.329
New Zealand		0.271	0.318	0.335	0.339	0.335	0.330
Australia				0.309	0.317	0.315	0.336
Italy		0.309	0.297	0.348	0.343	0.352	0.337
United Kingdom	0.268	0.309	0.354	0.336	0.351	0.331	0.345
Portugal	0.354		0.329	0.359	0.356	0.385	0.353
Israel		0.326	0.329	0.338	0.347	0.378	0.371
United States	0.316	0.337	0.348	0.361	0.357	0.380	0.378
Chile				0.427		0.403	0.394
Turkey		0.434		0.490		0.430	0.409
Mexico		0.452		0.519	0.507	0.474	0.476

At the top are the model societies of equality. These nations often are the most highly developed. Nations like Slovenia, Denmark and Norway. At the bottom are the nations who struggle to lift their poor out of poverty. They are often afflicted by domestic strife. Mexico has the drug cartels. Turkey has the Kurdish problem and ISIS on their doorstep. Israel has thew Palestinian question. But nestled just below Israel is...The USA. This is disturbing in the extreme. Some form of inequality is important for a capitalist nation to function, but grinding poverty and inequality at the levels recorded by the USA is extremely dangerous.

For one it acts as a massive handbrake on economic growth. A poor populace cannot and will not consume the goods it produces.

Secondly a poor populace will create political instability. These conditions appear to be present in the United States.

WHAT MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN REALLY MEANS

Much has been written on the character of the people who vote for Donald Trump. They are mostly white. Mostly poorly educated. Mostly older. The come from rural America. Surprising to some, their net wealth is higher than expected. I don't find this surprising. These are people who have worked through life, established good homes for themselves but seen the possibilities for their children diminished. When a generation feels it cant provide as good a life as they had for their own children THEY HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE ANGRY.

They say they want to take their country back. It's understandable. The America they grew up in was a land of milk and honey. (If you were white). Remember Superman's childhood home? Smallville. It was a piece of rural America where the neighbors were friendly, everyone had a good job where you could grow up to be Lex Luthor and be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

The reality was that many of these rural utopia's were hollowed out during the 1990's. Globalisation under the NAFTA treaty sent many of these rural American jobs offshore. Often the whole town was centered around supporting one industry. When that factory/mine/whatever closed this utopia turned quickly into a distopia. Unemployment skyrocketed, anyone who could get a job elsewhere (usually in a big city) left. This made the support industries (like retail) less viable again. Triggering a secondary hollowing out. The town was left highly unemployed. Dirt poor. With only the retired who have any form of wealth.

Substance abuse surely follows until methamphetamine production becomes one of the few viable industries in these towns. The crime and criminality that surely followed turned Trump's apocalypic RNC convention speech in Detroit into an every day reality.

The military represents one way to better yourself and break the poverty cycle, but it's not without risks. After 14 years of solid war the rural poor of America have given many sons and daughters back to the soil, killed in far off places like Afghanistan and Iraq. While their family and nation continues to suffer at home.

President's named Clinton and Bush seemed to do everything in their power to hasten the downfall of rural America. The free trade deals they signed meant that those doing well did better, but those shut out already did worse. Much worse. Is it any wonder that nominees Clinton and Bush are unpopular with the rural poor? It's just self interest.

Rustbelt Economy

Industrial areas of the USA fared no better than the rural areas. Great cities like Cleveland and Detroit that once shook the world with their economic power were devastated by industrial closure after industrial closure. You can now buy a house in Detroit – the home of the Automotive Industry in the USA for $500.

http://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/buying/the-downsides-of-buying-a-500-house-in-detroit/news-story/e426a84e4c0cd0bdff131a5aec63be84

Workers who had known prosperous lives were now laid off. Many of them had built enough wealth that they were able to retire. Many more had not. Whatever their financial situation, these people had seen their whole way of life destroyed. First the oil shocks, then free trade had decimated their lives.

These workers remembered a time when their industrial output drove America to lead the world. Now it was gone. When Trump promises to "Make America Great Again" this is the future they see. Is it any wonder people would vote for him?

Worldwide Phenomenon

This phenomenon is not just an American one. The english speaking world has been controlled by economic liberals since the 1980's. Another highly developed nation stands out on that list.

The UK is a long way down the list as an extremely unequal nation. Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May only got the job because her predecessor David Cameron massively screwed up trade policy.

Cameron went to the last election facing tremendous uprisings of euro-skepticism from the hard right of his party. He was also afraid of leaking hard right votes to Nigel Farage's euro-skeptic United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP).

So he promised the In/Out referendum we know as BREXIT. Brexit leave voters were on the whole – poorly educated, older, whiter, and more northern than their London dwelling richer younger remain votors.

These voters had usually had their own careers, gained some wealth, but feared for their children's future. "We did this for you" was the common cry of the boomers to the millennials.

The industrial heartland of the UK has been hollowed out massively since the Thatcher years. The Conservative government of the early '80's sought an end to union dominance in an attempt to drive competitiveness by lowering wages. It was somewhat successful. But it had the side effect of impoverishing a whole region.

Then came the expansion of the European Union from nations with roughly equivalent wealth to poorer ex eastern bloc countries like Poland and Romania. Factory workers in the UK simply could not compete with lower wage countries. To say nothing of competing with workers in China or Bangladesh.

The same issues generally apply to the UK workers as to the US workers. They remembered a time when life was good. You went to work at the town factory or mill or whatever, brought up your children in comfort and they were employed in the same factory. That stability is gone. Now you have to educated to have a good life in the UK. Many low wage jobs are also being filled by immigrants from former eastern bloc nations who are willing to work for less money and drive down wages and conditions for all.

Another point of convergence between the two events is border security. Trump has declared that the Mexican border is permeable. That people can flow to and from the USA with ease. Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson and the Brexiteers were against the signature policy of the EU. That of free movement within member states. The resentment to a perceived flood of workers from a lower wage nation to a higher one is repeated in both the USA and the UK.

Racism – The Elephant in the Room

Of course there's been another element both to Trump's campaign and to the Brexit shock. Sheer bloody minded racism. The moment Trump descended from on high (down those escalators) he declared that Mexicans were sending criminals and rapists across an open border.

It was buried a little deeper in the Brexit debate. But not very deep.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-racism-uk-post-referendum-racism-hate-crime-eu-referendum-racism-unleashed-poland-racist-a7160786.html

Trumping Reality

All this might sound like a full throated endorsement of Trump. Believe me it isn't. Trump is a demagogue, a narcissist, a racist, a sexual assaulter, a liar, a con man, a poor business man and has an intellectual curiosity level that makes George W Bush look like a genius.

Trump lies at every appearance and whenever called on it he denies he ever said it. No candidate for high office in the english speaking world has ever had such a tenuous relationship with reality.

The truth for Trump is just what he needs it to be at the time.

He is unfit for office. Any office. Anywhere.

So What Are You Saying?

On November 8 most likely America will elect Hillary Clinton as their new President. Hillary seems to represesnt business as usual. But Business as usual is not an option. The people of the free world have been trampled on for too long. In a democracy if you ignore the wishes of the people for too long that democracy itself falls.

“Fantasy. Lunacy.
All revolutions are, until they happen, then they are historical inevitabilities.” 
― David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

The western world is experiencing nasty and unexpected rumblings deep in it's gut. We are at a time when we can still turn away from the revolution. But that time will not last forever. Our leaders all need to focus on the widening gap between rich and poor, not just for the poor, but for themselves and the rich because when the time comes, like the Ancien regime of France in 1788, the rich will be the ones beheaded in the public squares to the cheers of the every man.